Method for severing sleeve sections from an elongated tubular member



NOV. 12, 1968 c, E, DR|ZA ET AL 3,410,939

METHOD FOR SEVERING SLEEVE SECTIONS FROM AN ELONGATED TUBULAR MEMBER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 17, 1965 N 5 mm 5 RB Y 000 w E T f N m .Rvmmaw Mm WRLW. T 4 2. H H CO,

W R Q Nov. 12, 1968 C. E. DRIZA ET AL METHOD FOR SEVERING SLEEVESECTIONS FROM AN ELONGATED TUBULAR MEMBER Filed March 17, 1965 lllll rIIIIIII Him!!! I-Ill 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FINAL POSITION "Z FIG.

INVENTORS CHARLES E. DRIIZA PHIL/P R. O'BRIEN TORN EYS United StatesPatent 3,410,939 METHOD FOR SEVERING SLEEVE SECTIONS FROM AN ELONGATEDTUBULAR MEMBER Charles E. Driza, Belleville, and Philip R. OBrien,Westfield, N.J., assignors to Chevron Research Company, a

corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 440,479 4 Claims.(Cl. 264-150) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for forming andsevering sleeve-like members with flared ends from an elongated tube ofplastics material where the material has an inherent characteristiccalled memory. The method involves clamping the material in the areawhere the sleeve members are to be severed from the elongated tube, coldworking a portion of the material between clamped portions thereof andthen severing the tube Where the cold working has been performed toproduce the sleeve members from the elongated tube.

This invention relates to a new and improved container of the typehaving a yieldable side wall and sheet metal end closures. Moreparticularly the invention relates to containers having a polypropyleneplastics sleeve type body adapted to be closed at each end by sheetmetal end closures and to the method of manufacturing containers of thattype.

It is the object of the present invention to produce a new and improvedcontainer having its body constructed of polypropylene plastics materialand adapted to be provided with sheet metal end closures on a machineconventionally adapted to apply sheet metal end closures to containershaving conventional sheet metal side walls.

A further object of the present invention is an improved method for theformation of the cylindrical sleeve of plastics material that may beadapted with sheet metal end closures at each end to form a containerfor enclosing materials in a fluid-tight manner.

Another object of the present invention is a method for severing sleevesections from an elongated tubular member in a manner to form a flare ateach end of the severed sleeve sections.

A further object is a method for performing plastics sleeve sections andsheet metal end closures for an improved container so as to adapt eachto be joined to the other in a conventional rolled, double seam seal,without forming fractures in the plastics sleeve at the seam or wrinklesin the plastics body of the completed container at the seam between theplastics sleeve and the end closure.

Further objects and features of the invention will be fully apparent tothose skilled in the art from the specification and appended drawingsillustrating certain preferred embodiments in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a container constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan View, partially in section, of the containerconstructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectionalview showing the formation of the endclosure prior to its use in a seaming engagement with the sleevesections of the present container.

FIGURES 5, 6, 7 and 8 are enlarged sectional views showing the stepsemployed in seaming the end closures onto the sidewalls.

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the apparatus employed to formcontainer sleeve sections and show- 3,410,939 Patented Nov. 12, 1968 ingthe tubular stock of the plastics material in the section.

FIGURESlO, 11, 12 and 13 are enlarged sectional views showing the stepsin the formation of the flange on the plastics sleeve section and thesevering of the sleeve sections from the tubular plastics stock.

The container illustrated in FIGURE 1 has all of the appearances of ametal container having metal end closures on each end; however, inaccordance with the present invention, the container is formed of aplastics material body portion. The container is intended, however, toserve all of the purposes of the now universally used metal containerwhile at the same time providing the advantages of having yieldable sidewalls and rigid end closures. As illustrated in FIGURE 3, in a sectionthrough the double rolled seam of the container, an end closure 21 isshown double seamed with the body portion 22 of the container ofFIGURE 1. The body portion of the container was formed as a flangedsleeve member of a desired container length and the end closures werethen applied to each end of the container.

A preferred plastics material contemplated for the container asillustrated in this application is an extrudable grade of polypropylene.The polypropylene polymer material is initially extruded as a long tubefrom a suitable extruding device, such as a 2 /2" plastics extruder, andis then cut into the desired container lengths and flanged to permit theattachment of the end closures. One of the uses to which the containeras illustrated in this application may be put is for canning lubricatingmotor oils and for that purpose the following formulation of a modifiedpolypropylene material has been found to be successful.

Material: Amount 0.4 MFR polypropylene lbs 50 Calcium stearate grams 34(Dilauryl) (thio di propionate) -do 56.8 BHT (butylated hydroxy toluene)-do 22.7 Q158 (not specified by vendor) do 45.5

No. neutral base motor oil lbs 6 To the above blend a sufficientpowdered pigment may be added to provide the desired color in theextruded material. MFR, as shown in the material column above, ismelt-flow-rate and is used to characterize polymer materials.

The base powder and the stabilizers of the above materials are initiallyblended in a Henschel blender for approximately three minutes at a lowspeed. After the three minute preblending the 130 neutral base motor oilis slowly added to the mix and the blender is switched to a high speedoperation for an additional 6-7 minutes of high speed mixing. After theten minute mix, the mixture is removed from the blender and may be hotmelt extruded into pellets to be used as the feedstock when convertingthe material into tubing. The mixture from the blender also may be usedto feed directly to the tube extrusion operation, thereby by-passing thepelletizing operation. The wall thickness referred to in thisapplication is in the range of 0.031 inch to 0.035 inch, but should notbe construed to eliminate the use: of thin wall tubing in other thanthese thicknesses.

FIGURES 9-l3 illustrate the formation of container sleeve sections fromthe extruded tubing. As illustrated in FIGURE 9, the tubing 23 ispositioned on a sleeve cutting tool where sections of a suitable lengthfor the container that is to be formed are cut. The tubing 23 issupported on a flanging arbor 24 mounted. on a rotatable shaft 25 and isforced against a shoulder 26 operating as a stop for the positioning ofthe tubular material on the arbor. The shaft supporting the arbor 24extends through the arbor and carries an outboard support 27 to provideadditional support for the tube 23. At an established position along thearbor, a cutter blade 28 is mounted by suitable means onto the arbor 24so as to be rotatable with the arbor 24. Between the body portion of thearbor and an end support 29, the diameter of the arbor and the endsupport are suitably reduced as at 31 and 32 to provide a flanging areaalong the arbor. The diameter of the cutter blade is substantially thesame as the diameter of the arbor 24.

A flare forming wheel 33 is adapted to cooperate with the cutter blade28 to sever and flare the sleeve sections from the tubing 23. The wheel33 is mounted On a rotatable shaft 34 positioned to be parallel to therotatable shaft 25 supporting the arbor 24. The shaft 25 and 34 aremovable laterally relative to each other so that the flare forming wheelmay be moved to cooperate wi:h the cutter blade to accomplish theflaring of the tubular material 23 to form it into the flexible sidewall of the sleeve member 22 as illustrated in FIGURE 3. The flareforming wheel is suitably attached to the shaft 34 so as to be rotatedby its shaft while the arbor 24 is rotated to rotate the tube 23. Shafts25 and 34 have identical rotational speeds.

As illustrated in FIGURES 10-13 the flaring and severing operation isaccomplished in a number of revolutions of the two shafts 25 and 34.FIGURE 10 illustrates a first position with the sleeve 23 positionedbetween the flare forming wheel 33 and the cutter blade 28. The flareforming wheel 33 is provided with shoulders at 35 and 36 spaced fromeach other to form a valley 37 therebetween. The base of the valley issubstantially parallel to the axis of the shaft 34 on which the flareforming wheel is mounted. Between the flat surfaces and the inner edgesof the shoulders 35 and 36, the valley of the wheel is chamfered toprovide working surfaces at 38 and 39 to be described hereinafter. Itshould be noted in FIGURES 11 and 12 that the lateral space between theinner edges between the fiat surfaces of the shoulders 35 and 36 issomething less than the total lateral dimension of the body of thecutter blade 28 and two thicknesses of the sleeve material 23 (onethickness on each side of the body of the cutter blade 28). Theselateral dimensions are intentionally established to create a clampingaction on the sleeve material 23 at the inner edges between the flatsurfaces of the shoulders 35 and 36 and the cutter blade 28 so that thesleeve material may be cold formed with a flare as it is severed. FIGURE11 illustrates the position of the sleeve material 23 between the cutterblade 28 of the arbor 24 and the flare forming wheel 33 as the shafts 25and 34 are moved laterally toward each other. The first few revolutionsof these two shafts (at least two revolutions) applies a pressureagainst the sleeve material to cause it to be initially pressed andformed into the valley of the flare forming wheel. From this operationthe polypropylene tubing material of the present invention takes aninitial set without causing fractures along the sharp bends of thesleeve material. It should be noted that the inner edges of theshoulders 35 and 36 are rounded to prevent sharp cracking of the sleevematerial.

As illustrated in FIGURE 12, the next few revolutions of the two shafts25 and 34 are accomplished with addi tional lateral movement of the twoshafts toward each other. As the shafts are moved toward each other, thecutting surface of the cutter blade 28 is brought into con tact with theflat bottom of the valley 37 to cause the tube 23 to be cut into asleeve portion. Several revolutions of the two shafts are accomplishedin this position to insure the cutting of the tube into the sleevesections.

As illustrated in FIGURE 13, the two shafts 25 and 34 are then separatedfrom each other and the sleeve portion 22 is removed from the arbor andanother severing operation is performed. It should be noted in FIG- URE13 that the sleeve 22 has been severed from the tube 23 and that the endof the sleeve 22 has been formed into a flange 41 having a permanent setoutwardly from the axis of the tube. It should also be noted that theleading edge of the next sleeve 23 has been formed into a flange at 42so that as the next sleeve member is severed from the tube, it will haveone end flange already formed. After a sleeve member is formed the twoshafts 25 and 34 will be moved away from each other, the sleeve removed,and then the tubing repositioned for the formation of the next sleeve.

While the foregoing severing operation has been described as employing asingle cutter blade and cooperating flare forming wheel, it should beunderstood that the shaft 25 may accommodate a number of arbors 24 andthat the shaft 34 may also accommodate a number f flare forming wheelsin alignment with each of the cutter blades on the shaft 25. With themultiple blade and flare forming wheel tool, a plurality of sleeves maybe severed from the tube 23 with each of the multiple revolutionoperations of the shafts 25 and 34. When the sleeves are completelysevered from the tube and the flare forming wheel and cutter blade havebeen moved away from each other, the sleeves may be extracted from thearbor and a new tube may be positioned on the arbor to be formed intothe next group of sleeve members.

Referring now to FIGURES 18, the process for attaching an end closurewith a double seam will now be described. FIGURE 4 illustrates a sectionthrough an end closure blank. It should be understood that the endclosure is in reality a disk-like member having a central flat portion51 and preformed end curls 52. The preformed curls of the end closureare adapted to form the cover hook that will eventually be rolled duringdouble seamed connection of the end closure to the body hook of thesleeve portion of the container. FIGURE 3 illustrates the cover hook at53, the body hook at 54, the sleeve at 22 and the end closure at 51.

FIGURES 5-8 illustrate the formation of the double seamed engagement ofthe end closure with the sleeve body portion. As illustrated in FIGURE5, the flanged end 41 of a container sleeve 22 is inserted into theprecurled end 52 of the end closure 51. It should be noted that theprecurled portion 52 is provided with a slight overcurl of from 0 to 5with respect to the flat end surface and the overall thickness of theend closure is from 0.060 inch to 0.062 inch as illustrated in FIGURE 4and that the flanged end of the sleeve is inserted under the precurledlip, as is the case with existing practice. FIGURE 6 illustrates theinitial positioning of the sleeve member 22 against the inside surfaceof the precurled portion 52 of the end closure 51; the sleeve is thenpressed against the inside surface of the end closure with the flange 41extending flat against that inside surface. Also in FIGURE 6 it can beseen that the cover hook 53 is started in its curl into engagement withthe exterior of the sleeve where the flange 41 has been formed. In eachof the FIGURES 58 the forming sur faces of the tool for engaging the endclosure onto the sleeve are shown as they engage the end closure toeffect the double seamed formation. Each of these tools is shown insection and it should be understood that they are progressive formingdies, each rotatable about an axis aligned with respect to the axis ofthe sleeve having the end closure attached thereto.

FIGURE 7 illustrates the formation of the double seamed end closure withthe flanged end 41 of the sleeve 22 totally enclosed by the now doublecurled end 52 of the end closure 51. It can be seen that the cover hook53 is worked by its forming die and that the flange 41 has now beensubstantially formed into the body hook of the double seamed endclosure.

FIGURE 8 illustrates the final formation of the doule seamed end closurewith the cover hook 53 enclosing the body hook 54 and with the endclosure 51 totally enclosing the flanged end of the sleeve 22. Theformed double seamed seal is then compressed laterally with respect tothe axis of the sleeve so as to form the tight seal as illustrated inFIGURE 3. The entire double seamed seal has been formed merely byrolling the end closure and sleeve body into each other and no sealingcompound or material has been employed due to the compressibility of theplastics.

The container of the present invention is now provided with an endclosure at at least one end thereof. If the end closure as applied isconsidered to be the bottom of the container, the container may then befilled and a cover closure may be applied in exactly the same manner ashas been illustrated in FIGURES 5-8. The particular containerillustrated has been formed of a modified polypropylene plastics sleevematerial and the end closure has been applied to the sleeve material ona conventional cover applying machine as used in the canning industry.The plastics body portion and end closure are sealed in a double sealformed without wrinkles at the juncture of the container body and thecover hook. It also has been found that where flexible side wallcontainers have failed and developed punctures, these failures andpunctures generally occur where wrinkles have been formed in theapplication of the end closures. The preforming of the end closure withthe slight inwardly bent angle as shown in FIGURE 4, has beeninstrumental in the elimination of the wrinkling of the flexiblematerial against the end closure. It has also been found that the use ofpolypropylene for the sleeve material produces an advantage over manyother plastics materials in that it may be formed with the flange as at41 without causing stress failures at the body wall where the inside ofthe seaming wall radius is formed. Other plastics materials have beenfound to form stress cracks at these flanges; those materials fail tofunction satisfactorily particularly where the containers may besubjected to increased internal pressures as may occur if the containeris dropped.

One specific use of a container formed in the manner illustrated and ofthe material previously described, is for dispensing canned lubricatingoils of the type used in automobiles. The modified polypropylenematerial including a predetermined amount of neutral motor oil blendedinto the mixture is the feed-stock to the tube extruder. The tubes arethen flanged and cut into the sleeve type body portion that may beseamed at each end to enclose the graded motor oils. The polypropylenematerial used as the sleeve portion of the container for motor oils ismodified with the blended neutral oil to eliminate the adsorption of themotor oil into the container body. Polypropylene and other plasticspolymers have a tendency to adsorb the contained oils if used ascontainers for motor oils. When modified as herein proposed thisadsorption is eliminated while retaining all of the desirable featuresof the polypropylene itself. The flexible walled container thus formedprovides a container that will withstand the usual amount of roughtreatment encountered in service stations while providing adequatestrength for stacking in the storage before use. The manufacture ofthese containers is greatly simplified by the formation of the sleevesfrom the extruded tubular material and the application of end closuresin the conventional double seamed manner. The formation of the bodyportion of these containers from a plastics material also reduces theoverall cost of the container in the dispensing of canned goods in thatplastics materials are considerably less expensive than both the allmetal containers and the foil covered fiber containers presently in use.

While a certain preferred embodiment of the invention has beenspecifically disclosed, it should be understood that the invention isnot limited thereto as many variations will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art and the invention is to be given its broadestpossible interpretation within the terms of the following claims.

We claim:

1. The method for forming a tubular sleeve of plastics material for useas the body portion of a container to be adapted with closures at eachend thereof comprising the steps of:

(a) positioning a predetermined length of tubular stock of said plasticsmaterial onto a rotatable arbor,

(b) aligning a forming die having a concave portion outside of saidtubular stock with said concave portion at the desired length for saidbody portion,

(c) rotating said stock with respect to said forming die,

((1) pressing a cutting die against the inside surface of said tubularstock in alignment with said concave portion and clamping a portion ofsaid tubular stock between the inside surfaces of said concave portionand the outside surfaces of said die,

(e) after said clamping, pressing said cutting die further into saidconcave portion to exceed the elastic limit of said plastic materialbeyond said clamped portion of said tubular stock,

(f) while maintaining said clamped portion in said clamped positionfurther pressing said die into said concave portion so as to separatesaid tubular stock at the bight of said concave portion while coldforming an outwardly flaring flange on said body portion and on saidtubular stock.

2. The method for forming a tubular sleeve of plastics material for useas the body portion of a container adapted with closures at each endthereof comprising the steps of (a) pressing said tubular sleeve againsta concave indentation in a die and clamping a portion of said sleeveagainst the inside surfaces of said concave indentation,

(b) then applying pressure to a portion of said sleeve beyond saidclamped portion and within said concave portion to exceed the elasticlimit of said portion of said sleeve within said concave portion,

(c) then rotating said tubular sleeve and said die about axes parallelto the axis of said tubular sleeve so as to cold form said tubularsleeve within said concave portion,

(d) and then severing said tubular sleeve within said concave portion ofsaid die so as to produce a tubular body portion of a container with anoutwardly flaring flange at said severed end.

3. The method of producing a tubular sleeve of polypropylene for use asthe body portion of a container adapted to be closed at each end with-ametal end closure, comprising the steps of:

(a) extruding an elongated hollow tube of said polypropylene material,

(b) inserting a flaring arbor and slitter into said elongated tube,

(c) pressing said flaring arbor and slitter against a flare formingwheel with said tube between said arbor and said wheel and rotating saidarbor and slitter, said wheel and said elongated tube,

(d) clamping a portion of said tubular stock between a surface of saidflare forming wheel and said flaring arbor and slitter, then pressingsaid slitter further outwardly against the inside surface of saidelongated tube so as to exceed the elastic limit of said polypropylenematerial and to cold form said tube against said flare forming wheel,

(e) and thereafter further pressing said flaring arbor and slitteragainst said flare forming wheel to sever said tubular sleeve from saidhollow tube.

4. The method of producing a tubular sleeve of polypropylene for use asthe body portion of a container adapted to be closed at each end with ametal end closure, comprising the steps of:

(a) extruding an elongated hollow tube of said polypropylene material,

(b) inserting a flaring arbor and slitter into said elongated tube,

(c) pressing said flaring arbor and slitter against a flare formingwheel with said tube clamped between said 7 8 arbor and said wheel toforce a portion of said tube References Cited into a concave annulargroove in said wheel, UNITED STATES PATENTS (d) forming an outwardlyextending flare at said portion of said tube forced into said concaveannular 2,139,682 12/1938 Hothersan 113-120 groove by cold working saidpolypropylene material 5 2,957,205 10/1960 Barber et in conformance withsaid concave annular groove, 3,198,866 8/1965 covlngton et a1 264.320

(e) and rotating said arbor and tube while pressing said arbor againstsaid wheel to sever said tubular ROBERT WHITE Puma); Examl'wr' sleeveadjacent to said outwardly extending flare. J. H. SILBAUGH, AssistantExaminer.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,410,939 November 12, 1968 Charles E. Driza et al.

It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent andthat said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 46, "performing" should read preforming Column 3, line14, "shaft" should read shafts Column 6, line 14, after "said" insertcutting Signed and sealed this 10th day of March 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. E. JR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

